Bure is a small area about 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of Asseb, on the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia, and claimed by both countries. Bure lies across the important Awash-Asseb highway, which in the past has been an important trucking route.
Bure | |
|---|---|
  Bure | |
| Coordinates: 12°37′N 42°12′E / 12.617°N 42.200°E | |
| Country |  Ethiopia |
| Region |  Afar |
Bure came under Eritrean control after several weeks of fighting in May–June 1998. Eritrea said that Ethiopia had started an offensive at Bure by dropping bombs on the front-lines on 14 February 1999. The fighting in the area continued through the Eritrean-Ethiopian War (1998-2000), with each side claiming it had inflicted heavy casualties on the other, until they agreed to a ceasefire.[1]
The Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission determined in 2002 that Bure lay on the Ethiopian side of the border.[2] Relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia soured in November 2005, when 20 Ethiopian soldiers occupied a portion of the area for several days. After peace-keeping troops from United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea intervened, Ethiopian troops were withdrawn.
The BBC published on 19 June 2008 a timeline of Eritrea's conflict with Ethiopia to that date and reported that the "Border dispute rumbles on":[3]
- 2007 September – War could resume between Ethiopia and Eritrea over their border conflict, warns United Nations special envoy to the Horn of Africa, Kjell Magne Bondevik.
- 2007 November – Eritrea accepts border line demarcated by international boundary commission. Ethiopia rejects it.
- 2008 January – UN extends mandate of peacekeepers on Ethiopia-Eritrea border for six months. UN Security Council demands Eritrea lift fuel restrictions imposed on UN peacekeepers at the Eritrea-Ethiopia border area. Eritrea declines, saying troops must leave border.
- 2008 February – UN begins pulling 1,700-strong peacekeeper force out due to lack of fuel supplies following Eritrean government restrictions.
- 2008 April – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warns of likelihood of new war between Ethiopia and Eritrea if peacekeeping mission withdraws completely. Outlines options for the future of the UN mission in the two countries.
- 2008 May – Eritrea calls on UN to terminate peacekeeping mission.
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Local History in Ethiopia" Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine (pdf) The Nordic Africa Institute website (accessed 2 April 2009)
- ^ "Chapter VI – The Sector Covered by the 1908 Treaty (Eastern Sector)" (Press release). Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission. 2002-04-13. Archived from the original on 2010-06-02. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
- ^ [1], BBC News, 19 June 2008
External links edit
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